However, that could change by next year. Atlanta was the only airport among the top 20 busiest airports for passengers to see a decrease in passenger traffic last year, with a small drop of 0.3 percent.

Beijing Capital International has long nipped at the heels of Hartsfield-Jackson. In 2017, the Chinese capital’s airport came in second place again with 96 million passengers (a 1.5 percent increase).

ACI’s data for the annual World Airport Traffic Report is drawn from more than 2,500 airports in 175 countries.

Rapid Growth

The countries to watch are China and India, according to ACI. Their combined passenger traffic represents 34.5 percent of the global total.

Of the fastest-growing top 30 airports with over 15 million passengers, 16 are located in those two countries.

The top three contributors to global passenger traffic growth are China, the United States and India.

“Global passenger traffic has reached record levels as airports continued to make a crucial contribution to furthering economic development and global connectivity,” said Angela Gittens, ACI World’s director general.